Doctor Who: Time of the Companions
by Darth Lego Master
Summary: The Doctor is gone. Removed from time and space. All seems lost, but his companions aren't willing to give up that easily. Join Ace, Leela, Tegan, Nyssa, Peri and K-9 on their epic, universe spanning quest. But who is behind the Doctor's disappearance? And what waits for the companions in the seaside town of Weymouth?
1. Prolouge

**Hi there! This a new story I started whilst working on** _ **The Imperial Invasion of Westeros.**_ **I know I'm slow to update, but I haven't abandoned that fic.**

 **Until then, here's the intro to my new story to keep you entertained. Hope you like it!**

Prologue

There was no light in the room. Darkness seeped from all cracks and cervices, from the ceiling down to the floor, sucking out the light and giving dominance to the shadows. There was no sound, except for the low rumbling emanating from the walls. The only source of light came from the blinking red lights on the control panel situated in the corner of the room, highlighting the shape of a large backed chair. From the chair's arm rest, a black gloved hand reached out to the control panel and flicked a switch. Instantly, a screen in the centre of the panel lit up.

Displayed on the screen was the image of a man with dark curly hair, great staring eyes and long multi-coloured scarf. The hand pushed a few more buttons and the image of the man dissolved into blackness.

Satisfied, the hand moved back to that switch and the screen came back to life. This time the image was that of a younger man with sandy blond hair, dressed in a cricketer's coat with a stick of celery placed in his lapel. The hand danced across controls and that image too dissolved into nothingness.

The quiet of the room was suddenly disturbed by a soft, menacing laugh.

More buttons were pressed until the screen displayed a man wearing an absurdly colourful suit with yellowish-curls. He too quickly followed the others.

Finally, a small man in a straw hat and dark brown jacket holding a red umbrella appeared onscreen. With a movement of great satisfaction, the hand sent him away into the void, as swiftly as the others.

Everything was silent for a moment, until the menacing laugh returned, growing louder until it's echo filled the entire room of shadows. The owner of that laugh had waited a very long time for this. After so many years, centuries and millennia, they would put a stop to this endless feud.

Finally, they would destroy the Doctor.

Who could possibly stop them now?

 **Don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Awake

Chapter 1

Ace blinked her eyes open as she regained consciousness. Her eyelids felt like they were under a two-tonne weight. She grasped her throbbing head with one hand, trying to recall what had happened. The last thing she remembered was talking to the Doctor about something to do with the TARDIS's thought locator circuits when a loud ringing caught her ears and she blacked out.

"Professor?" she called for the Doctor. But there was no reply.

After rubbing her eyes some more, the instantly recognisable TARDIS interior came into view. With her vision fully restored, Ace glanced around the pristine white control room. Everything was as she remembered it: the hexagonal control console in the middle of the room, a table and chair set up near the inner door, the hat stand next to the main entrance. She heard the familiar hum that eradiated from the walls, ceiling and floor and felt the warm vibration when she touched one of the round things that were dotted over the walls. She had always wondered what they were.

"Doctor?" she called again, yet the short, funny little man with the hat and umbrella was nowhere to be seen. "Come on, Professor, speak to me!" Ace was surprised by how desperate her tone was becoming, so made a mental note to stay calm. "Doctor?!"

When no one answered for the third time, Ace had to consider something very unsavoury: The Doctor was missing. Maybe he was in another part of the TARDIS? _No, he always spends his time in here,_ Ace's mind reminded her.

"Ok, Dorothy," she said to herself. "Don't panic. He probably just popped out to see the Time Lords or something. Yeah, he'll be back before you know it." She was feeling a little better when she realised that the transparent column in the centre of the control console was rising and falling rhythmically, indicating that the TARDIS was in flight. "Or," Ace considered, "maybe he's left you drifting through time and space for all eternity. Oh, bloody hell."

* * *

Tegan had no idea what happened. One minute she had been bringing Nyssa breakfast in bed, the next she was lying face down in a puddle of milk, orange juice and cornflakes.

"Oh, rabbits," she groaned as she picked a frosted flake from her now damp and sticky hair. She pushed herself to her feet, surprised by just how groggy she felt, and stepped carefully over the broken glass and china that littered the hallway outside Nyssa's room. Normally she wouldn't leave the floor in such a state but she wanted to check if her friend was alright first. Then they could ask the Doctor about what had happened later.

She was about to knock when suddenly, Tegan herd Nyssa's scream from behind the door. "Nyssa? Nyssa, are you all right?"

In a blur, Tegan shoved the door open and saw Nyssa sitting upright in bed, her chestnut curls were a tangled mess and her pale green eyes wide in fear.

"Nyssa!" Tegan gasped in horror.

"Tegan?" Nyssa sobbed. Her voice sounded so weak.

Instinctively, Tegan sat on the edge of the bed and put two comforting hands on her friend's arms. "It's ok, I'm right here," she said.

"Oh, Tegan!" Nyssa wailed, burying herself in the Australian's arms like a small child. "It was awful!"

"It's all right," Tegan cooed. "Was it about Traken?"

"Yes," Nyssa sobbed into her shoulder. "Only this time, everyone was screaming. I heard their cries of pain… I wanted to help them… but I couldn't…"

"It was just a dream. You're fine." But despite her words, Tegan knew her friend wasn't fine. As much as she hated seeing Nyssa like this, losing not only your father, but your entire home planet was something she could never imagine going through.

After a moment or two, Nyssa finally seemed to calm down. "You're right," she said with a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Tegan."

"Hay!" Tegan snapped, prompting a small smile from Nyssa. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."

"Thank you."

"Do you want me to get the Doctor?" Tegan offered.

"I don't think we want to worry him. Speaking of which, where is he planning on taking us next?"

"I don't know." Tegan furrowed her brow in confusion. "Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I spoke to him. The last thing I remember is bringing you breakfast when I just sort of… blacked out."

"Blacked out?"

"Yeah. I heard this weird ringing and then everything went dark. I'll tell you, I woke up in a right mess…"

"When was this?" Nyssa cut in.

Tegan, slightly taken aback by the interruption, said, "Just a few moments ago, I think. I guess I was out for five seconds at least."

"I see." Nyssa threw off the covers and went to the cupboard to find some cloths. "I have a theory," she said to Tegan whilst digging out her velvet trouser suit, "that your blackout occurred around the same time as my dream."

"Alright." Tegan smiled. Now this was the Nyssa she was used to: intelligent, forthright and scientifically rational. "What do you think could have caused it?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Nyssa admitted as she buttoned up her tunic. "A strong scionic impulse amplified by a very powerful telepathic circuit perhaps?"

"Pardon?" Tegan replied, a little dumbfounded.

Nyssa smiled affectionately, reminded that Tegan didn't share her advanced scientific knowledge. "Come on, let's find the Doctor. He'll know what to do."

* * *

Ace paced up and down the control room. She hated waiting.

"This is naff," she muttered bitterly. "This is super naff."

Glancing at the counsel, the time pillar continued to rise and fall, as it had been for the past half an hour. This was getting unbearable. Ace momentarily considered trying to pilot the TARDIS, but instantly decided against it. Aside from the scanner control and the door release, she had no idea what any of the other nobs and buttons did. For all she knew, one of the switches was the self-destruct or something. And seeing as she didn't know which one, she did not dare touch any of them.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ace heard that familiar heaving groan. The time pillar was suddenly still, signalling that the TARDIS had materialised. Feeling somewhat relieved she didn't have to stay in this one room waiting for the Doctor to come, Ace went to activate the scanner. Her arm was mere inches away when she felt the cold blade of the knife at her throat.

"Stay still, stranger," a fierce voice barked in her ear, "or I will carve out your throat!"

"Whoa, whoa! Alright, take it easy," Ace blurted in surprise. She winced when a hand roughly pinned her arm behind her back, preventing her from struggling.

"What have you done with the Doctor?" her attacker demanded aggressively.

"What?!" The blade was pressed further into her throat. "I haven't done anything with him. I'm the Doctor's friend!"

"A friend?"

"Yes!" On hearing this, the strong arms that held her released her. She stumbled free and spun around. Standing before her was a young woman dressed in a leotard and boots made of what looked like animal skin. She grasped a hunting knife in her left hand and her stance made Ace think of a tiger or a leopard about to pounce on its prey. Her urban hair was wild and untamed, and her bright blue eyes observed Ace with a slight hostility.

"You are a friend of the Doctor?" she asked, her tone less fierce.

"Uh, yeah," was all Ace could manage. She was still a little bewildered by the woman's appearance, or how she even got into the TARDIS.

"How do you know him?" the wild woman inquired further.

"I travel with him," Ace told the woman, who she only now compared to a female Tarzan.

"That is impossible," she said, very matter-of-factly.

Ace cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because _I_ travel with the Doctor!"

Ace started rubbing her head, which she felt was about to explode. This was too much for her to take in. "Ok then," she tried to come to some logical conclusion. The Doctor told her he'd been traveling for a long time, and in that time, he had probably travelled with other people. Ace realised she wasn't the first person to join him aboard the TARDIS, but the only other past companion she knew was Mel. It occurred to her that Tarzan here must have travelled with the Doctor before her or Mel. In the end, she decided introductions were probably in order and asked, "What's your name?"

"I am Leela, warrior of the Sevateem," the woman declared, Ace taking full notice of the pride in her voice.

"Well, I'm Ace." When Ace extended her hand for the savage to shake, Leela stepped back warily.

"Ace?" she said, testing the name in her mouth. "I do not like that name."

"Why not?"

"It applies to someone who is arrogant and vain beyond their years."

"Well thanks a lot!" Ace shot Leela a dirty look. Deciding to ignore her insult, the teenager turned back to the console and went for the scanner switch.

"Do not touch that!" Leela jumped in defensively. "The Doctor will not be pleased when he finds out we have a stowaway."

"Oh, bleeding heck, I'm not a stowaway," Ace insisted. "I travel with the Doctor."

"If you travel with the Doctor, why have I never seen you?"

"Because I met the Doctor in the future. Or the past. Or both. I dunno how any of this time travel stuff works."

"I see." Leela lowered her knife, indicating to Ace they had found some kind of common ground. "And this Doctor you know, he is tall, with hair that curls like the horns of some beast and eyes that stare into you?"

"Um, no, he's short with big eyebrows and a brolly."

"Then he cannot be the Doctor." Again, Leela was very matter-of-fact.

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't," Ace said definitively, fed up with playing twenty questions. "I'm going to find him."

"So, you do know where he is!" Leela exclaimed hopefully.

"No," Ace retorted, causing Leela's face to fall. "But now that we've materialised, I'm going out to look for him."

"Then why have you not activated the scanner to see where we are?"

"Because, Tarzan, I couldn't reach it with a knife to my throat!" Almost without thinking, Ace jerked the scanner switch with one hand. Both women watched a panel on the far wall slide away to reveal the scanner. The TARDIS's primary vantage point showed what looked like a sandy beach under a grey clouded sky. Waves broke roughly against the sand and seagulls circled under the clouds. Ace observed two gulls picking at a crab's carcass.

"Do you know recognise this place?" Leela asked suddenly.

"I don't think so," Ace said. "But if I'm gonna find the Doctor, may as well start here." She instantly went to the makeshift bed she had set up in the corner of the control room and grabbed her jacket, backpack and baseball bat. She was two feet from the doors when Leela stepped into her path.

"If you are going then so am I," she stated definitively.

"I dunno?" Ace didn't like the idea of letting someone who wasn't the Doctor tag along. In all honesty, she preferred to work alone on this one. But when she saw Leela grab a quiver of arrows and a large crossbow from the hat stand in the corner, she decided that this girl could look after herself. "Fine, but try to keep up."

Leela scowled at the remark. With a sense of trepidation, Ace pulled the door release and the two large white doors slide open. Outside, the sound of the sea and the howl of the wind mixed with the seagull's cries. Hitching her pack, Ace glanced over at Leela, who still looked disgruntled.

"At this point, the Doctor would lead me out," she said.

"Then you'll just have to make do with me, won't you, Tarzan?" Ace flashed Leela a cheeky smile, and putting her best foot forward, lead the savage out of the TARDIS.


End file.
